Brands Hatch Indy: Brookes keen to trial harder Pirelli rubber

Josh Brookes says if the situation demands it he is keen to unlock optimum performance from the harder SC1 Pirelli rear tyre

Josh Brookes says if the situation demands it he is keen to unlock optimum performance from the harder SC1 Pirelli rear tyre as he aims to build on an impressive start to the 2017 MCE British Superbike championship.

The 2015 BSB champion accepted he had to settle for second place behind Leon Haslam in race two of the 2017 opener at Donington Park with tyre life playing a pivotal role on race pace.

Having not had enough opportunities to test out the SC1 Pirelli rear tyre due to the poor weather during Friday and Saturday at Donington Park, Brookes is hoping for better conditions to get to grips with the harder rear tyre if it proves to be the faster race tyre.

"The tyre choice will be dictated by the results, at Donington the cancellation of qualifying and the wet practice on Saturday meant we were a full day of dry track time down, so the tyre wasn't tested," Brookes said. "I wasn't around last year so I stuck with what I knew.

"I'd like to think that in the three days before Sunday's races I'll have a chance to test the SC1 and see how it performs at the track, there is no guarantees that the tyre will be better or worse. The plan is to do the same as we did at Donington, go race the bike and win, it's simple.

"The results at Donington weren't a coincidence, they were created, I rode the bike well and the team had done a lot of work in the off season to make the bike good. They did a great job in between race one and two after listening to what I was having trouble with and it improved the package."